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This is why
Be honest, we've all done this.
Perhaps we're in a hurry, running late or its just the end of a long day and we can't wait to get home. Up ahead is the orange, diamond-shaped sign that adds to the frustration, "Merge Right," followed by what seems like thousands of traffic cones that eventually lead to some manner of work being done in or around the roadway.
"Why are all those cones out so far in front of any work being done?" We've all thought it at one point or another.
This is why.
On Monday, Farmers Branch Parks and Recreation Crews were out doing what they do best, working on our parks and public grounds and medians to perpetuate the image that we all hold dear about our community - "the City in a Park."
In the early afternoon, as a crew was working on the Marsh Lane medians, a car went through the cones, crashing into the back of the maintenance trailer that was hooked to a City pickup truck. The result was a severe injury to a longtime member of our City's workforce. Another worker was also injured.
We don't yet know exactly what happened. Accident investigators will tell us that in due course.
However, what we do know is that a City employee's life has been dramatically and irrevocably altered. Likewise, the result of their actions will always weigh on the driver of the car.
We all make hundreds of decisions every day when we get behind the wheel and none of us are perfect. Most of those decisions are good ones and usually get away with the few that weren't as good.
As a community, we cherish our image of beauty and green growth in public areas. To maintain this "City in a Park" takes the efforts of dedicated people, working in what we normally don't think of as dangerous conditions.
But, as Monday showed us, they can be.
So many accidents, and the resulting heartache, are and should be cautionary tales that keep drivers' attention off the radio and the phone and the kids and on the road, where it belongs. Please be careful on our streets, especially when our crews are working to keep them beautiful.
All it takes is one bad decision at the wrong time to change someone's life forever.
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LBJ Express officials confirm project is on time and budget, headed for 2015 finish FARMERS BRANCH ~ With more than 53 percent of work completed on the five-year, $2.7 billion makeover of LBJ Freeway, officials said the project is proceeding on time and budget with the first phase set to open late this year. Reaching from the area of Central Expressway on the east side, to Interstate 35E on the west, the project is radically altering the perpetually busy roadway to incorporate more main lanes, continuous frontage roads and available tolled lanes.
VIDEO  EXTRA
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LBJ Express - Full Project Fly-Over
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The goal is to better accommodate the volume of 21st century traffic that had stretched LBJ to its limit. The span of the project from Greenville Avenue, west to Monfort Drive, complete with main lanes, service roads and below grade tolled lanes is on schedule to open in December, according to officials with LBJ Express, the construction management group responsible for the project.
Work during the past two years has seen the installation of frontage roads where none had previously existed through the Farmers Branch corridor from Midway to Marsh and Webb Chapel, reconstruction of bridges and re-routing of on and off-ramps.
Farmers Branch City Manager Gary D. Greer said the City employs a consultant who works with LBJ Express to help us provide for minimal disruption and to advocate for the advancement of the city.
More than 1,300 people, using some 300 pieces of equipment, including 50 cranes, work on the project every day, amidst 250,000 vehicles traversing the 13-mile circuit (including 165 lane-miles). the end result in each direction will be continuous frontage roads of two to three lanes, four main lanes on the freeway and two to three lanes on the below-ground tollway that will separate the east and westbound sides.
Phases scheduled for completion in April of 2015 include the I-35E stretch from Valwood Parkway to Loop 12 and LBJ from Luna Road to Josey Lane. The final segment, from Josey to Monfort, will be finished in December of 2015.
 
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Skate Park closes for move to new location west of Rec Center
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Grinding, sliding, all manner of flipping and air-catching will have to wait a few weeks as the Farmers Branch Skate Park undergoes a move from its old location south of the Community Recreation Center to its new home on the west side of the facility, near the intersection of Heartside Place and Valwood Parkway.
Farmers Branch Parks and Recreation officials said the park will be closed Monday, August 26 as crews begin disassembly of the various skating apparatus.
The popular Skate Park, first opened in 2010, is being moved to make way for the new Farmers Branch Aquatics Park, replacing the 50+ year-old Don Showman Pool. Demolition on the pool facility began last week, following the final day of the summer swim season.
Officials said that work will be proceeding as soon as the foundation is poured for the new Skate Park. As a result, grinding, sliding, all manner of flipping and air-catching should resume in mid-September.
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'Visions' continues at Manske gallery
MANSKE LIBRARY ~ 'Art Focus XC Presents: Visions,' an exhibition of 15 different artists from the Dallas area, now on display in the gallery at the Farmers Branch Manske Library.
Since its founding in 1992, Art Focus XC has shown the work of its participating artists in more than 15 exhibitions ranging from museums to corporate buildings to college campuses. Additionally, they have been featured in Southwest Art magazine and have supported Metrocare Services and the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
The exhibition runs through September 6.
For more information, call the Manske Library at 972.247.2511.
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Volume 3 | Edition 35 | Number 131 
is published weekly by the Communications Office
of the City of Farmers Branch, TX.
Two-time TAMI Award Winner for Best eNewsletter in Texas
Given by the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers
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City announces hours for Labor Day holiday
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Most City of Farmers Branch offices and facilities will be closed on Monday, September 2 in observance of the Labor Day holiday.
The Community Recreation Center and Historical Park, however, will be open that day from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
There will be no garbage collection on Labor Day.
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Council plans final public hearing on proposed budget
FARMERS BRANCH ~ In preparation for adoption of the 2013-2014 fiscal year budget, the Farmers Branch City Council will hold a final public hearing September 3 as part of their 6:30 p.m. regular meeting at Farmers Branch City Hall.
The first public hearing on the budget took place at the regular meeting of August 20 and was followed by a workshop August 24. Televised replay of that workshop can be seen on FBTV at 3 p.m., seven days a week, until budget adoption.
Members of the Council will consider adoption of the new budget at their regular meeting September 17.
For more information, call City Hall at 972.247.3131.
>> View the proposed budget
>> View the Workshop presentation
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October meeting moves for National Night Out
FARMERS BRANCH ~ The first City Council meeting in October has been rescheduled in order to accommodate the annual observance of National Night Out on October 1.
Normally scheduled for the first and third Tuesdays of the month, the first October meeting will now be held on Wednesday, October 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Farmers Branch City Hall.
America's night out against crime will be observed as part of National Night Out with neighborhood gatherings held to promote a united front against crime in residential areas. Registered NNO parties will be visited by as many police, fire and City officials as possible. For more information or to register a party, call 972.919.9304.
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Registration open for fall softball, kickball
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Registration is now open for adult softball and kickball this fall at the nationally-recognized Oran Good Softball Complex.
Late registration is September 14-18. Fees for the fall season of adult softball are $350 per team plus a $25 USSSA sanction fee (paid once annually).
Fees for adult kickball are $225 per team. A $15 fee applies to late registrations.
Games begin the week of September 23.
For additional information, or to register, call 972.999.7180 and visit 27seventeensports.com.
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Space remains open for Citizen Police Academy
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Spaces remain available for the Fall edition of the Farmers Branch Police Department's Citizen Police Academy.
Designed to give residents and businesspeople an inside look at law enforcement, the Academy is open to Farmers Branch residents, 18 and over, and is held for three hours each week through the Fall months.
For more information, call 972.484.3620.
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Sep 7 . Outdoor Movie at the Library - "Back to the Future"
Sep 10 . Star Party
Sep 14 . Annual Health & Wellness Expo
Sep 14 . Pickups -n- Panels
Sep 14 . Outdoor Movie at the Library - "North by Northwest"
Sep 21 . Outdoor Movie at theh Library - "Oz: The Great and Powerful"
Sep 28 . Movie in the Park - Disney-Pixar's "Up"
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VIDEO  GALLERY
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Bloomin' Bluegrass Preview with Alan Tompkins
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Aquatic Center Groundbreaking
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Dr. Gilbert's Diary
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Farmers Branch Business: Anything but Usual
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Check the latest weekly report on the five-year reconstruction of Interstate 635 that includes:
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 The hot August sun beats down on Farmers Branch Liberty Plaza as the massive U.S. Flag slowly unfurls in the warm southerly breeze earlier this week. |
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About the City of Farmers Branch 
An historic community in the geographic center of the DFW Metroplex, Farmers Branch boasts a residential population of 28,800 and a daytime employment population of 66,000. Located on the northwest border of the City of Dallas, the City's 27 parks and lush greenbelts feature nationally-acclaimed, award-winning soccer fields, football facilities as well as baseball and softball complexes. The city's location in the center of the Metroplex and only 15 minutes away from both DFW Airport and Love Field, along with the 2,200 hotel rooms within the city, make Farmers Branch an ideal location for residents and for business. For more information on the City of Farmers Branch, visit farmersbranchtx.gov, visitfarmersbranch.com, lovethebranch.com or call 972.247.3131.
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